Some 500 soldiers and recent IDF inductees joined the family and friends of a fallen IDF officer for an event marking the completion of a tractate of the Talmud in his honor.

Last July, 22-year-old Lieutenant David Golovenchich from Efrat was killed in a tragic friendly-fire incident during a training exercise in Hevron.

In Golovenchich’s honor, 500 IDF soldiers and incoming inductees gathered with Golovenchich’s family and friends at the Jerusalem Gate Hotel in the capital to mark the completion of Tractate Megillah in the Babylonian Talmud.

The participants had taken it upon themselves to study the tractate, which is named after the Megillat Ester (Scroll of Esther) which is read during the upcoming Purim festival, in Golovenchich’s honor.

Lieutenant David Golovenchich

Courtesy of the family

“Tonight there are 500 soldiers making a siyum [ceremony marking the completion of a tractate] in honor of David, my son, who was killed [last] July in Hevron,” Golovenchich’s mother, Esti, told Arutz Sheva.

“I’m feeling a combination of joy, of pride, of sorrow, and probably many other emotions that I find hard to put into words. Torah brings a lot of joy…especially with so many soldiers. It’s a beautiful combination to have the soldiers with their body and soul protecting this country.”

“I think this is a Guinness World Record,” said David’s father, Shimon Golovenchich. “Five hundred people finishing [a tractate] together is something historic. There’s an amazing feeling of exaltation here. I didn’t think that I’d feel like this.”